Touring in an EV

I am interesting in hearing about any experiences with touring in a Leaf (or other EV). That's is, taking a trip way beyond your home charging range. I have noticed that there are quite a few level 3 charging stations (mostly at Nissan dealers) in New England. I am on Long Island, NY and would probably try this adventure in New England. Upstate NY has no L3 that I know of, although I did find out today that the NYS Thruway will get level 3 at some to-be-determined time in the future.

I've never traveled far enough to need L3 on the route, but I've gone outside the "freeway distance" on the freeway more than a couple times. My girlfriend's family is about 73 miles away, and it's all freeway. Made it there with range to spare (31mi the first time).

I didn't buy the Leaf with the intention of using it on long distance trips. In the future, it might be possible with the adoption rate of L3 stations.

I've only used L3 once, because the charge station I was at apparently wasn't working, and gave me 0% charge. I didn't have enough range to get home, so I drove to a local Nissan dealership for the L3.

Really great timing on your post...I drove today from LI (5 towns) to Washington, DC today. Stopped at 4 QCs on the way. Staying the weekend and coming home Monday.

like2bike said:

I am interesting in hearing about any experiences with touring in a Leaf (or other EV). That's is, taking a trip way beyond your home charging range. I have noticed that there are quite a few level 3 charging stations (mostly at Nissan dealers) in New England. I am on Long Island, NY and would probably try this adventure in New England. Upstate NY has no L3 that I know of, although I did find out today that the NYS Thruway will get level 3 at some to-be-determined time in the future.

Click to expand...

Well, since you said "...or other EV"...
We took a 12 day (over Memorial Day weekend) vacation from Minnesota to California and back (in a Tesla).
Best driving vacation I have ever had!
We stopped at 30 L3 chargers. 13 on the way out, 17 on the way back on a slightly different route.
The quality of the ride was wonderful, and there were only two charging stops where the car was not charged, enough to reach the next charger, when we were done with grabbing a bite or stretching our legs.
We stopped for a charge every 2-4 hours (typically 2.5 to 3 hours). We spent 20-35 minutes at most chargers with a maximum time of 1hr 10min and a minimum of 15 minutes.
A charger was immediately available at every stop. One stop had 3 of 6 stalls ICED.

Our conclusions from the trip:

More L3 charger stations are needed along more routes and some areas need more individual chargers at each station.

Real time information about charging availability would be nice, especially as crowding becomes more of an issue.

Elevation changes can affect ranges easily as does speed (all legs of the trip but one we travelled at or above the posted speed limits). One leg was 8% over our EPA range, however it was down 3000 feet and was no trouble. If we did that leg again we would do it at the speed limit.

Next year, we are probably going to the east coast

I didn't buy a Leaf for long distance travel. When the Leaf was new, 2011, out of range trips were not possible. In 2013 I noticed that a trip between Nashville, TN and Chicago might be possible. I used Plugshare and Google Map to check distances and confirm charger locations. Since I do bicycle touring this adventure seemed normal. This will be the second year I have made the round trip. Because there is only one city with QC on the route it takes 2 days. If more QC stations were available it wouldn't be any different than a leisurely ICE trip. I do carry adapters for L2 charging at campgrounds. When I have a longer charge wait I talk to locals, take a bike ride, see a movie, etc. 2/3 of my L2 charging is at car dealers. If the QC infrastructure continues to develop longer trips are just a matter of planning. In planning a trip you learn a lot about who supports EV's. I charge at one critical spot which is a pizza restaurant. The owner has a 14-50 plug installed in the parking lot. He owns a Volt & a Tesla, the restaurant has a solar array on the roof, it's in the a rural area with more combines than stoplights. I suggest one calls ahead on any chargers which have not been used often by Plugshare members. The car dealers are usually helpful but some lock up their lots after closing. Sometimes I have to ask for charger spaces to be cleared of vehicles that are not charging. I'm glad I do these trips because people, who use ICE cars, ask me about EV driving along the way.

unfortunately touring in an EV still sounds like an oxymoron, and I'm a proud owner of our 2013 Leaf, and a firm believer in the right tool for the job, this makes me think of Subjects like "Towing with a Miata" or "Drifting in a All Wheel Drive"

not being a jerk, just putting things in perspective

like2bike said:

I am interesting in hearing about any experiences with touring in a Leaf (or other EV). That's is, taking a trip way beyond your home charging range. I have noticed that there are quite a few level 3 charging stations (mostly at Nissan dealers) in New England. I am on Long Island, NY and would probably try this adventure in New England. Upstate NY has no L3 that I know of, although I did find out today that the NYS Thruway will get level 3 at some to-be-determined time in the future.

Click to expand...

EV road trips in a LEAF are quite fun. My family has gone on numerous EV road trips in the past two years. Since we own two LEAFs and no other vehicles, it is, literally, the only way to travel.

The longest trip that we've done is to cover 3600 miles in 17 days driving from Canada to Mexico, and back. Our record for most miles covered in a short time period is 729 miles in just 33 hours (including an eight hour overnight stop for sleeping).

Read about our adventures on the blog site linked in my sig:

We do a lot of touring using Oregon's expanding L3 network and rely on PlugShare for up to date information and messaging with other drivers who thoughtfully post. With experience it is often possible to skip some stations to save time or make the best use of regeneration to go places you hadn't considered initially. With the Cascade and Coast Ranges and strong winds up and down the Columbian River Gorge we can do this.

Still, with the limited Leaf battery and the 3.3 inverter, long trips and charging every hour or so can get onerous especially if you find you have to use an RV outlet in a L3 desert or when an L3 is down. A 200 mile round trip in the western mountains or on the coast is fun. I've found 400+ mile RT's are best left to our Subaru.

For now I'll extend our $99/mo lease until the battery range improves.

I did my first Leaf touring on August 20. I went on a trip into CT to check out charging stations and experiment with touring. Although the trip was successful, I was disappointed with the way the battery heats up but cools down so slowly. Here is my blog with the details: http://like2bike.myevblog.com/sample-page/251-mile-leaf-touring-test-drive/

I have traveled from NJ to FLA in my tesla
and all around FLA in it as well using the SC network and overnight destination charging at public chargers. As the Tesla SC network gets built out making more places accessible I plan on making more road trips. I've found that being in the driver's seat for long drives in the Tesla to be much pleasant than other upper end cars, I'm guessing the charging stops every 2 hours or so has a lot to do with that.
I couldn't see doing any long distance traveling in my LEAF because of the severely limited range and the lack of high speed charging in my car.
YMMV

I drove the RAV4 EV from LA to Utah recently.

Here's the full thread at the RAV4 forums: http://www.myrav4ev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1161" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And here're the time lapse videos...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjN6qB4TiJ0[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8PB0P0lZOs[/youtube]

gReGsKi said:

unfortunately touring in an EV still sounds like an oxymoron, and I'm a proud owner of our 2013 Leaf, and a firm believer in the right tool for the job, this makes me think of Subjects like "Towing with a Miata" or "Drifting in a All Wheel Drive"

not being a jerk, just putting things in perspective

Click to expand...

Yes that is a common American perspective. Fill the tank, drive 5 hours, fill the tank, bathroom break, shove enough food and drinks into passengers to quell the rioting, drive another 5 hours. We're going to "have fun" and don't want to "waste" any time! :lol:

"Touring" in the more traditional sense, is leisurely travel at a relaxed pace and many stops -- to see and take in many places instead of the Moon Shot of so many U.S. vacations.

I notice the same thing in bicycle touring. People on tour in Europe may be content with 30 or 40 miles per day. Here in the States we feel compelled to bike 80, 100 or more miles a day. I am guilty of that approach myself.

Maybe it's because we don't have so many neat little places to go. Or maybe it's because so many of us get 1/4 of the typical European vacation time and are afraid to even use that. :|

LEAF can suit a slower-paced definition of touring. The Gumball Rally, not so much.

Nubo said:

gReGsKi said:

unfortunately touring in an EV still sounds like an oxymoron, and I'm a proud owner of our 2013 Leaf, and a firm believer in the right tool for the job, this makes me think of Subjects like "Towing with a Miata" or "Drifting in a All Wheel Drive"

not being a jerk, just putting things in perspective

Click to expand...

Yes that is a common American perspective. Fill the tank, drive 5 hours, fill the tank, bathroom break, shove enough food and drinks into passengers to quell the rioting, drive another 5 hours. We're going to "have fun" and don't want to "waste" any time! :lol:

"Touring" in the more traditional sense, is leisurely travel at a relaxed pace and many stops -- to see and take in many places instead of the Moon Shot of so many U.S. vacations.

I notice the same thing in bicycle touring. People on tour in Europe may be content with 30 or 40 miles per day. Here in the States we feel compelled to bike 80, 100 or more miles a day. I am guilty of that approach myself.

Maybe it's because we don't have so many neat little places to go. Or maybe it's because so many of us get 1/4 of the typical European vacation time and are afraid to even use that. :|

LEAF can suit a slower-paced definition of touring. The Gumball Rally, not so much.

Click to expand...

nobody wants to make a long stop every hour or so, "gReGsKi nails it! the LEAF is a fine car, it does what it is intended to do well, however it is the wrong car for ANY kind of long distance driving trips. the ONLY current EV that is well suited for long distance travel is the Tesla.

Nubo said:

gReGsKi said:

unfortunately touring in an EV still sounds like an oxymoron, and I'm a proud owner of our 2013 Leaf, and a firm believer in the right tool for the job, this makes me think of Subjects like "Towing with a Miata" or "Drifting in a All Wheel Drive"

not being a jerk, just putting things in perspective

Click to expand...

Yes that is a common American perspective. Fill the tank, drive 5 hours, fill the tank, bathroom break, shove enough food and drinks into passengers to quell the rioting, drive another 5 hours. We're going to "have fun" and don't want to "waste" any time! :lol:

"Touring" in the more traditional sense, is leisurely travel at a relaxed pace and many stops -- to see and take in many places instead of the Moon Shot of so many U.S. vacations.


LEAF can suit a slower-paced definition of touring. The Gumball Rally, not so much.

Click to expand...

Could not agree more. It's the journey as well as the destination.

But I also want some level of confidence that I will actually make it to the (distant) destination without incident... Except for the Tesla, that absolute confidence is not there yet in any EV...

Houdini said:

Could not agree more. It's the journey as well as the destination.

Click to expand...

apvbguy said:

Nubo said:

Yes that is a common American perspective. Fill the tank, drive 5 hours, fill the tank, bathroom break, shove enough food and drinks into passengers to quell the rioting, drive another 5 hours. We're going to "have fun" and don't want to "waste" any time! :lol:

"Touring" in the more traditional sense, is leisurely travel at a relaxed pace and many stops -- to see and take in many places instead of the Moon Shot of so many U.S. vacations.

I notice the same thing in bicycle touring. People on tour in Europe may be content with 30 or 40 miles per day. Here in the States we feel compelled to bike 80, 100 or more miles a day. I am guilty of that approach myself.

Maybe it's because we don't have so many neat little places to go. Or maybe it's because so many of us get 1/4 of the typical European vacation time and are afraid to even use that. :|

LEAF can suit a slower-paced definition of touring. The Gumball Rally, not so much.

Click to expand...

nobody wants to make a long stop every hour or so, "gReGsKi nails it! the LEAF is a fine car, it does what it is intended to do well, however it is the wrong car for ANY kind of long distance driving trips. the ONLY current EV that is well suited for long distance travel is the Tesla.

Click to expand...

You're certainly espousing the majority opinion, but it's not universal. I took a 1000-mile trip this summer in LEAF and none the worse for wear. I took an 1100-mile bicycle tour last fall that took considerably longer -- Amtrak to Seattle, return via bicycle. Sometimes fun is what you have along the way.